Our new Christmas tree

The first part of this week I was in Miami for our Latin American conference, I got back late Wednesday. The highlight this weekend was actually Marcy and I going on a date to the Ridhwan Christmas Party and, for the first time ever, we did not get a babysitter. Anna had a birthday party to go to so Jude was home by himself. He actually played with the neighbor kids for a while and spent the rest of the night watching Minecraft videos on YouTube. He was happy for us to leave for the night.

This morning we went to get our Christmas tree. Jude, Anna and I went to Whole Foods and Home Depot (we chose Whole Foods) and then and Marcy decorated it beautifully as she always does.

Anna getting some makeup at the Waldorf Holiday Fair

Yesterday was the annual Waldorf School Holiday Fair and Anna really wanted to go. So, Marcy and her spent most of the day there (stopping for gymnastics but then returning). Jude was even open to going so he and I stopped by for about an hour in the afternoon.

Jude playing with Olive in the snow

Anna had the entire week of Thanksgiving off school but Jude was supposed to go on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday afternoon a big snow storm came through, dumping over a foot of snow – the biggest storm in three years in Denver. This meant a snow day for Jude on Tuesday which he was thrilled about.

Anna doing some shoveling as the storm continued

After the storm the weather continued to be cold and cloudy most of the week. So while the kids spent a lot of time indoors they were also able to get out and do some sledding at the park. They also took Olive out a lot who just absolutely loves the snow. The neighbors also came over and played on the trampoline after Jude shoveled all the snow off.

Heading off to do the Turkey Trot 4-mile road race around Wash Park

Thanksgiving morning was another cold and cloudy day. But before we feasted Jude and I had a race to run. We entered the Turkey Trot which is a large road race around our local park. It is a big race with close to 10,000 people and it was a little bit treacherous given the snow and ice on the roads. But we both finished well with good times.

Then it was on to Thanksgiving dinner. Marcy spent a good part of Wednesday and most of Thursday preparing the meal. My job was the turkey and gravy. We sat down to our first family Thanksgiving dinner in Denver since 2013 and it was really nice to spend the holiday at home.

About to dig in to our Thanksgiving feast

We didn’t have a whole lot planned the rest of the weekend and as I said the weather was not great. Anna and Elsie had an entire camp planned with the neighbors with a range of activities so that occupied quite a bit of the long weekend. One of the activities was community service which involved us taking trash bags out and cleaning up trash in the neighborhood. It was not an easy task given all the snow but we did manage to half fill a couple of trash bags.

Doing community service over Thanksgiving weekend

The other big job this weekend was hanging our new TV. We bought a new 55″ OLED TV last weekend and installed it this weekend. We had a couple of issues with the installers so Marcy and I ended up doing it ourselves. The TV looks fantastic hanging on our wall now.

Jude being a teenager next to his mom

Yesterday Jude turned 13. He has building up to this day all month and he woke up very excited. He got to choose how we celebrated. He decided a pancake breakfast at home and then on to his favorite pastime, Minecraft on his Nintendo Switch. We watched some Premier League and Jude played with Olive in the park.

Showing off his birthday present, an iPhone 8

The big gift that Jude got for his birthday was a brand new smartphone. We bought him an iPhone 8, something he has been really wanting. He is the second last kid in his class of 25 at school to get a smartphone and at 13 we feel like Jude is ready. He has had a flip phone for a couple of years now and understands the importance of looking after it. We have a long list of rules for this phone, it is not a play toy, it is to be used primarily for communication.

Jude decided for lunch he wanted to go to Mustard’s, a hot dog place right by DU that is walking distance from our house. We played some table tennis at home and then some tennis at the local courts in the afternoon. And we went and bought an ice cream cake which we had in the afternoon. For dinner Jude wanted takeout Noodles & Co. and then we watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He said it was a very satisfying birthday.

Singing Happy Birthday to Jude

Today, we spent the whole day at home. No one had any commitments so we used this time to switch out Anna’s bed. She wanted her old bed that she had on Fairfax Street which had been in the basement. So, we switched beds, which took most of the afternoon and into the evening with Marcy doing the bulk of the work.

Anna working the store at her school book fair

I was in Philadelphia for a conference Wednesday to Friday this week so I missed a couple of things. Anna had a book fair at school and she helped to staff the book store. There was also an open house at South High School I missed as we continue to explore high school options for Jude.

We didn’t have much planned this weekend. Anna had gymnastics on Saturday, I took Jude to putt putt and both of them played with the neighbor kids. Last night we had family movie night and Anna chose Oceans Thirteen.

Anna and Elsie drawing caricatures in the park

Today, Jude played an epic game of football in the park with the neighbor boys while Anna and Elsie decided they would try to raise money for girl scouts by drawing caricatures. So, they set up shop in the local park and solicited business from the people out walking. They had one nice customer who was a good sport and waited around quite some time while the girls finished her portrait.

Snuggling with Olive on the couch

This past week was a big one for Olive. She had her surgery to make sure she can never have babies. She has to take it easy for 10 days so no walks and no running or jumping. And she has to wear a cone to bed. But the surgery itself hardly phased her. She slept great the first night and she seemed to be in no pain at all. The only trouble is she REALLY wants to run and play, she is still a puppy after all, but we have to keep her sedated much of the time.

Olive tries desperately to get Pickles to play with her

Jude racing in the Halloween school cross country at St. Mary’s dressed as Thing 1 & Thing 2

The week started off with the last school cross country meet of the season. This was the Monster Dash, a costume race and all of Jude’s school team dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2. Jude ran well, coming in fourth, despite not having his regular running shoes (they were misplaced).

Yesterday, Jude was invited to his first Bar Mitzvah service and party for one of his school friends. Jude went to the service at the Jewish Community Center in the morning and even though it was two hours long he said he quite liked it. In the evening they had a party at a really fun place with indoor beach volleyball courts, table tennis and pool. Jude had a blast and didn’t want to leave until the bitter end at 10:30pm.

Doing piggy back races at her friend’s birthday party

Meanwhile Anna had a birthday party at Xtreme Challenge Arena, a kids fun activity place where they do all kinds of challenges including “flying” through the air in the Superman challenge. After an hour they went back for more games and dinner at her friend’s house.

Jude enjoys a quiet Sunday watching soccer and football

Jude had low energy today after his late night. So, he spent way too many hours watching soccer and football today. At least he was able to spend some quality time with Olive and Pickles. We did get to the park once with Olive and both Jude and Anna raked some leaves in the afternoon. They also spent some time on the trampoline with the neighbors this afternoon.

Pickles found the perfect hiding place

We end with some cutie animal photos.

Olive looks so cute after her time at the groomers

Jude, Anna and Olive enjoying the snow day

We started this week with a snow storm that resulted in a late start on Monday, an early close on Tuesday (or a full day off in Anna’s case) and then a full snow day on Wednesday. This was from two separate snow storms that left a total of about 8″ of snow. The kids did some sledding and played some Minecraft. They were so thrilled to have snow days so early in the season.

Playing with Olive at the park

Thursday was Halloween and both kids had been planning their outfits for weeks. Jude was Megan Rapinoe (the US women’s team soccer player) and Anna was a vampire. Marcy was, apparently, an intergalactic sorceress.

Getting ready to trick or treat on Halloween

Both kids decided to go trick or treating in Park Hill, back in our old neighborhood. Anna went out with some friends from her old school and actually knocked on the door of our old house. Jude went over to see a friend from camp and trick or treated just a few blocks away from Anna. I picked them up quite late, around 9pm.

Anna and friends trick or treating in Park Hill

This weekend I had Ridhwan yesterday. Meanwhile Marcy took the kids on a hike. Today, Jude and I ran in the Day of the Dead 5K in Wash Park. Jude ran well but I think all the candy from the last couple of days caught up with him as he was a minute slower than the 5K he ran over the summer while my time was about the same. But we both had a good time and Jude ended up coming second in the 10-14 year old age group.

Jude running strong in the Day of the Dead 5K

Jude enjoying time with his two favorite pets

Jude was off school this week on fall break and he took advantage of his free time to play Minecraft, his latest video game obsession. He had one play date with a friend and also played catch in the park with Marcy a lot as well as jumped on the trampoline.

Anna had her school social on Friday night and she tried out her Halloween costume (a vampire). She seemed to have a fun evening. We were up early on Saturday with Anna having an 8am soccer game in Wheatridge. Jude had a full day of refereeing, his last of this season. He continues to enjoy it and of course loves that he is getting paid $8 a game.

Food group at our house

Our quarterly food group dinners are a long standing tradition. They actually originated in the early 90’s soon after I moved over here and then after a multi-year hiatus we started back up again around 2001. We have been doing these dinners once a quarter since then. It was our turn to host this weekend and Rick decided to take a photo to send to his kids who are off at college. The fajitas and rhubarb crisp were a hit.

Olive and Pickles enjoy the left over chicken from food group

Anna’s 11th birthday dinner at Elway’s

Anna turned 11 on Monday and we agreed that she could take the morning off school for a special spa morning with Marcy which Anna loved. So, she did a half day at school and then we all went out for a special birthday dinner. Anna chose Elway’s because she loves their steaks and it didn’t disappoint. It was a sumptuous meal. Then, we came back home for dessert which was a seven layer rainbow cake that Marcy and Anna worked on all day Sunday.

Anna’s 11th birthday cake

We had our first snow storm of the season this week, just 3-4 inches that only really stuck to the grass. It was a little crazy because we went from 82 degrees on Wednesday to 32 degrees on Thursday. Olive loved playing in the snow, she was running around like crazy and burying the face in the snow.

Olive loves the snow

The snow was pretty much melted by Saturday and so Jude had a full day of refereeing while Anna had regular gymnastics class. On Sunday, Jude and I went to the Broncos game. It was a beautiful day so we rode our bikes to the game, it only took a little over half an hour. It was a good game and the Broncos came away with a win which was fun.

At the Broncos game on a gorgeous fall afternoon

Meanwhile, Anna’s friend Reed came over and they worked on Halloween decorations most of the afternoon. They did a fantastic job, it is easily the most decorated we have ever had the house.

Anna and Reed showing off their Halloween handiwork

Finally, Jude reached a milestone tonight. He lost his very last baby tooth and will now have a full set of adult teeth hopefully for the rest of his life. He has perfect teeth and so will likely never require a trip to the orthodontist.

With my good friend Richard in Bristol

I spent the last week of September in London for our annual LendIt Europe event. It was a draining week but a great success and then afterwards I took a day off to head to Bristol to visit my good friend Richard and his fiancee Jackie. I got home last Sunday afternoon.

At the top of the Manitou Incline

Monday I took the day off work and Marcy and I drove south to do the Manitou Incline again. I was feeling really jetlagged and had just come from a week at sea level so I struggled a bit but Marcy powered up the 2,768 steps in 45 minutes. We had a really nice Mexican lunch afterwards in Manitou Springs.

Anna with her new electric scooter

Over the summer Anna earned over $100 in her lawn care service and she had to goal of buying an electric scooter. It arrived on Friday and she was really excited to take it for a spin. We are not sure about it, though, because it seems a bit small for her.

Jude pushing it hard at the finish of his cross country meet

On Saturday morning Jude had a cross country meet at Colorado Academy. He ran really well, he said he pushed it as hard as he ever has, and he finished in the top 50 of a 350 person race. And he was first in his school again. Jude decided to take the day of soccer refereeing because of the race.

Jude visits the dentist and gets a pumpkin

Fall is really in the air here with most of the week bringing cooler weather. Anna put a few Halloween decorations up today. Also, this afternoon she had her very first Girl Scouts meeting. It was at Lair of the Bear so they went for a hike and Marcy took Olive along. Anna loved it and she is keen to join this group.